Filner surfaces, talks continue

Mayor Bob Filner resurfaced Wednesday at City Hall after 26 days out of sight as negotiations continued for his possible resignation and recall proponents boasted of a successful start to their signature drive.

Reporters have been staking out City Hall all week in hopes of getting a glimpse of the besieged mayor and Filner finally emerged Wednesday afternoon exiting the building on his way to a mediation session related to the sexual harassment lawsuit filed against him by a former aide.

“Good to see you guys. Thanks,” Filner said as reporters swarmed him. He refused to answer questions and then got tangled in a microphone cord as he tried to leave in a black SUV. “Come on, guys,” he said before hopping in the vehicle and taking off.

A cone of silence has been dropped over the ongoing mediation being led by retired federal judge J. Lawrence Irving that many presume will end with Filner agreeing to resign. In exchange, the city would likely agree to limit Filner’s legal and financial exposure with regard to the lawsuit although it appears the major sticking point is the reluctance of city leaders to make taxpayers foot the bill for Filner’s alleged wrongdoing.

None of the participants — including Filner, his lawyers, City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, Council President Todd Gloria, Councilman Kevin Faulconer and attorney Gloria Allred — have released any details except that the talks could take a long time. Allred represents Irene McCormack Jackson, the mayor’s former communications director who has sued Filner and the city for sexual harassment.

While Filner negotiates, the effort to recall him from office is moving ahead at a brisk pace.

Recall spokeswoman Rachel Laing said more than 11,000 signatures had been collected in the first three days since the petition began circulating Sunday.

Assuming all the signatures are from registered voters living in San Diego, the tally thus far is slightly ahead of the daily average of 2,605 signatures needed to trigger a recall election. City rules require 101,597 signatures to be collected within 39 days.

If successful, a recall election would be called within 60 to 90 days.

“We are ahead of schedule and we haven’t done any large-scale events yet, which we are planning,” Laing said.

The recall drive seeks to have Filner removed from office for a variety of reasons, including alleged sexual harassment of female staffers, dereliction of duty, misuse of public funds and ineffectiveness.

In his response to the recall, Filner said the initiatives he has started since taking office in December need to move forward under his leadership.

The Democratic mayor has been under siege for the past five weeks since allegations of inappropriate sexual behavior toward women surfaced. More than a dozen women have come forward to accuse Filner of sexual misconduct and unwanted advances, such as kisses, groping and derogatory comments. Additional women have also described awkward encounters with Filner in which he inquired about their relationship status or asked them out.